This past fall Barbara Spigner acquired the remaining interest in the Cape Fear Heroes Arena Football Team and is now its sole owner.

Last year Barbara was a partner in the team but she had a vision to take the team to the next level and wanted do to some exciting things going forward. Being a successful business woman she knew her skills would allow her and the team to do great things with the right goals and objectives behind her, part of her vision was for the team to be more accessible and active in the community and for the team to work more with charitable causes. That being said the Heroes where set up as a non-profit legal entity and although it still will a take strong participation from team sponsors and ticket sales to make the Heroes successful our non – profit status will help us do many additional things within our community.

Barbara has always had a golden heart and looks for ways to be a positive influence to others.

Barbara is no stranger to professional Indoor Football having been a team owner for three years, two of those with the Florence Phantoms and last season with the Cape Fear Heroes. In two of those seasons her teams won national championships (2008, 2012). Over her three seasons as an owner her teams have amassed an overall record of 25 wins and 12 losses.

One of Barbara’s first acts of giving back to the community was during this past season when she donated five laptop computers to players from the Heroes Youth Football Organization, a member of the AIF for Kids program. Players were asked to write about one of their heroes in life, a player with the best essay was then selected from each age group.

The essays were well written as well as emotional and it was hard to choose just one winner from each age group but the winners were finally chosen. Many of the heroes written about came from that child’s family structure or a teacher in their school. The age groups represented were 8 & 9, 10 & 11, 12 & 13 and 14 & 15. Ms. Spigner hopes to expand upon the program this season.

Build – A – Bear Workshop

    
When the tragedy happened in Newtown Ct. recently Barbara and the Heroes we looking for a way to acknowledge the twenty six people who lost their lives with a positive reinforcement for the surviving family members and loved ones.

The Heroes sent each family through the Newtown Police Department A - Build – A- Bear Workshop Heroes custom teddy bear in remembrance of their lost loved one.

 

Heroes Ring Ceremony

Heroes owner Barbara Spigner shown with county commissioner Charles Evans and Heroes team members and staff (photo courtesy of the Fayetteville Press).

This past Saturday night January 19th, 2012 the Cape Fear Heroes held their Championship Ring Ceremony at the Holiday Inn- Bordeaux in Fayetteville North Carolina. Over one hundred people attended the event honoring players and staff of the 2012 Heroes undefeated and national championship season.

The evening started out with a cocktail and reception hour at the All American Sports Bar and Grill then later moved over to the hotels Wellington banquet room for the ceremony. The ceremony opened up with County Commissioner Charles Evans who talked about the benefits of the Heroes to the community followed by a speech from team owner Barbara Spigner who thanked everyone in attendance for their commitment to the Heroes and shared her plans and vision for the team’s future.

At that point Barbara Spigner and Heroes Head Coach Charles Gunnings presented championship rings to Heroes coaches and players in recognition of their undefeated 2012 season and AIF National Championship. While it is not uncommon for teams to give championship rings to reward their players of such an accomplishment Barbara took it one step further.

Each Heroes player was also given a special gift from Ms. Spigner and told not to open it until later in the ceremony. After a brief video, players were told to open their gifts and were surprised to see a certificate for a team cruise on Celebration Cruise Lines to the Bahamas from Barbara. Barbara went on to explain the cruise was the first component of a long range plan for a Heroes Goodwill Tour to the Bahamas.

As part of the Goodwill Tour proposed future plans include the Heroes working with the Bahamas and Grand Lucayan Resort to have Heroes coaches and players teach instructional football clinics across the Bahamas.

Barbara is a longtime resident of Fayetteville where she owns and operates Spigner Management Systems, Inc. and B.J. Hill & Associates. She serves on the City of Fayetteville Board of Adjustment and the Nursing Home Advisory Board.

The AIF, American Indoor Football held their annual league meetings this past December 6^th at the Historic Yorktowne Hotel in York Pa. Ownership groups from all 2013 AIF teams where represented at the meeting, the Harrisburg Stampede, Roc City Thunder, Washington Eagles, West Virginia Badgers, York Capitals and last year’s  AIF Champion the Cape Fear Heroes  Also in attendance was the ownership group from the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Pa. market who has committed to play in the 2014 season.

The first order of business announced was the six AIF team members that will be playing in 2013 as well as the under contract expansion markets of Wiles-Barre/ Scranton Pa. and Baltimore Maryland with the return of the AIF to 1^st Mariner Arena in 2014. In addition the AIF announced it was in discussions with two ownership groups about securing teams in the State of South Carolina for the 2014 season

In a long day of meetings league officials and team owners covered a wide variety of topics from team budgets, team revenue streams, vendor products, a weekly AIF radio podcast as well as the radio broadcasts of team games. In addition a league executive and standards committee was formed featuring the owners of three AIF teams as well as members of the AIF ownership and management team to steer the direction and vision of the league. The final order of business was the 2013 AIF Schedule which was completed and will be released to the public in the next several days. 

York Capitals Is The Official Name For The 2013 Expansion Team

The Fans have Spoken and The Name is Official!  York Capitals Is The Official Name For The 2013 AIF Expansion Team that will play in York, PA.

The American Indoor Football league and the ownership of the new expansion team want to thank all the fans who voted. "We had an incredible response to the contest with well over 1000 votes cast and want to thank all the fans who participated. We're excited to have the York Capitals for the 2013 season."  stated John Morris of the American Indoor Football league. 

The York Capitals took off to an early lead in the voting and never looked back.  Fans cast well over 1000 votes combined on the Facebook and League polls to make the York Capitals the winning name!  We want to congratulate the fans who submitted a valid entry.

Topic: Ontario Warriors
For Immediate Release

Effective May 17, 2012, the AIF indefinitely suspended the Ontario Warriors franchise from all AIF play, to include the final 2 games of the regular season as well as any playoff and All Star Classic participation. 

This suspension is a result of numerous violations of the Membership Agreement and the AIF Operating Manual. 

Jack Bowman
AIF National Director

The Results are in and the fans have spoken! The Ontario Warriors have the best defense!

Did you vote? Watch for future polls to make sure your team is represented in a big way! Congratulations to the Fans and the team for bragging rights this season: 

"Warriors Have The Best Defense" 

Which Team Has The Best Defense?

Ontario Warriors 101
Virginia Badgers 77
California Eagles 68
Maryland Reapers 50
Carolina Force 39
Cape Fear Heroes 39
Harrisburg Stampede 28
Macon Steel 14
Nevada Lynx 8
Tri-State Redhawks 6
Arizona 5
North Alameda Knights 2

Poll Results: http://aifprofootball.com/index.php?option=com_poll&id=17:which-team-has-the-best-defense-#content

 Wide receiver Marques Colston is re-signing with the New Orleans Saints -- and he's re-joining the Harrisburg Stampede, as well.

Stampede owner Justin Coble says Colston has agreed to be a partner in the franchise, which begins its inaugural season of American Indoor Football (AIF) on April 7.

"Getting a high-character guy like him is huge," said Coble of Colston, who amassed more than 1,000 yards receiving in five of his six seasons. "He wants to be involved in the community."

Colston was previously involved with the club at its inception. But after making an initial investment, he left the team shortly thereafter; his lawyers said in April 2009 that Colston wanted to focus on his pro career, instead.

Colston credits Coble's enthusiasm for getting him back on board. Coble assumed control of the Stampede in February 2012.

"Just having a new ownership with a new attitude," explained Colston, in a brief phone call with CBS 21 News Sports Director Jason Bristol on Wednesday afternoon, on why he decided to rejoin the team. "Justin is willing to do whatever it takes (to make the product successful)."

Colston, a graduate of Susquehanna Township High School, agreed to a new five-year contract with New Orleans on Tuesday.

He also said he will attend some of the team's games and Coble expects Colston to be a hands-on partner, as well; involved with the day-to-day decision-making as much as possible.

And that's fine with Colston, 28, who is currently taking graduate business classes and knows he won't be playing in the NFL forever. "Having a skill set to transition into the business world is a huge asset," he said.

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said Tuesday that Colston is everything the team wants as both a player and a person. He added that Colston deserves credit for working to get a deal done before the opening of free agency.

Coble said making Colston a part-owner had been in the works for the past three or four weeks.

 

 

Original Article: Marques Colston becomes part-owner of Harrisburg Stampede 
Reported by: Jason Bristol

 

The Results are in and the fans have spoken! The Arizona Outlaws have ran away with this poll with over 50% of the votes!

Did you vote? Watch for future polls to make sure your team is represented in a big way! Congratulations to the Outlaw Fans and the team for bragging rights this season: 

"Outlaws Will Take It All" 

Which Team Will Take It All?

Arizona Outlaws - 603
Harrisburg Stampede - 203
Ontario Warriors - 117
Maryland Reapers - 37
California Eagles - 34
Cape Fear Heroes - 32
Macon Steel - 32
Virginia Badgers - 20
Carolina Force - 16
Nevada Lynx - 8
Tri-State Redhawks - 6
North Alameda Knights - 3

Poll Results: http://aifprofootball.com/index.php?option=com_poll&;id=16:which-team-will-take-it-all

The Results are in and the fans have spoken! The Harrisburg Stampede have ran away with this poll!

Did you vote?  Watch for future polls to make sure your team is represented in a big way! Congratulations o the Stampede Fans and the team for bragging rights this season: 

"Stampede Have The Best Fans" 

Who Has The Best Fans?

Harrisburg Stampede 141 Votes
Ontario Warriors 79 Votes
Arizona Outlaws 70 Votes
Cape Fear Heroes 38 Votes
Sin City Blackjacks 33 Votes
Maryland Reapers 32 Votes
California Eagles 31 Votes
Virginia Badgers 15 Votes

The AIF announced the release today of its 2012 Eastern Conference Schedule consisting of seven teams. In these tough economic times the AIF saw the need to develop a business model that would have a positive impact on its member teams giving each team the opportunity to maximize their revenue streams and profitability. Out of the seven AIF east teams five are full members and two are affiliate members, each full member team will play a seven game schedule and each affiliate member will play either a four or five game schedule.

Full member teams will be the Carolina Force, Cape Fear Heroes, Macon Steel, Maryland Reapers and Harrisburg Stampede with each of these teams playing a minimum of 4 home games. Affiliate team members will be the Tri-States Redhawks and the Virginia Badgers, those teams will play a limited schedule in 2012 as they build their programs and secure arenas in the future.

Exciting play and family entertainment are still a main focus of the AIF as many returning players and coaches have signed on for the 2012 season including head coaches Charles Gunnings (Cape Fear Heroes) and Bernie Nowotarski (Harrisburg Stampede) both of who have guided teams to a national championship in indoor football.

Full Members

Carolina Force City: Concord NC Head Coach: Kent Meredith Arena:  Cabarrus Events Center  & Arena Seating Capacity: 4,500

Cape Fear Heroes City: Fayetteville  NC Head Coach: Charles Gunnings Arena: Crown Coliseum Seating Capacity: 10,000

Maryland Reapers City: Laurel MD Head Coach: Matt Steeple Arena: Gardens Ice House Seating Capacity: 2,200

Harrisburg Stampede City: Harrisburg Pa Head Coach: Bernie Nowotarski Arena:  Farm Show Arena Complex Seating Capacity: 2,600

Macon Steel City: Macon Ga. Head Coach: Ervin Bryson Arena:  Macon Centreplex Seating Capacity: 9,000

Affiliate Members

Virginia Badgers  City: Northern Virginia

Tri-State Redhawks City: Baltimore Maryland